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30: Media is Getting Messy
9 Plays4 days ago
What happens when the media we grew up trusting starts breaking down?
In this episode, I reflect on what’s happening across media, from the Paramount-Discovery saga to uncertainty at CBS, CNN, TikTok and more. Shrinking newsrooms and billionaire ownership are reshaping what information reaches the public.
More than ever, it’s on all of us to verify what we’re hearing, question headlines, and support the journalists doing independent, accountable work.
If you’re looking for voices worth following, start with: Phil Lewis, Michael Harriot, Joy Reid, Don Lemon, Roland Martin, and Charles Blow.
Time to say the quiet parts out loud! Let’s get into it.
Connect with me across socials @brittany_geneva
Subscribe to my YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@brittany_geneva
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Updates
00:00:00
Speaker
And for the lady, perhaps a softer life? This is Geneva Says.
00:00:20
Speaker
Welcome. am Brittany Geneva. This is another episode of Geneva Says. Thank you so much for tuning in Thank you so much to everybody who watched the relaunch episode. i got such great feedback. Thank you, guys. I really appreciate it I'm back. Just like I said, I would be new episode right now. Every two weeks, we will build up the build up the frequency. But for now, every two weeks, let me ease back in.
Personal Challenges in 2026
00:00:48
Speaker
Let's jump right into the catch up because who i just need to I just need to get vulnerable with y'all for a second. like I just got to get it off my chest. This life has been hard in 2026. That's why I said, perhaps for the lady, a softer life because oho i don't like this. I know my wig is looking very soft and lovely.
00:01:11
Speaker
Maybe I need to harden it up. Maybe I need to go get one of them doll looking wigs because them girls is living good. You know, let me maybe I need to exchange the soft wig for a soft life. If I have, if those are my choices, because this shit right now, oh my God, y'all know, if you know, you know, job,
00:01:36
Speaker
job is jobbing right now. The transition has been hard for your girl. Okay. My dog was sick. I dropped an amount of money that I'm like, hey, hey girl.
00:01:49
Speaker
Hey girl, I love you. I need you to stay healthy because woo mama could not just be dropping thousands like randomly because she ate something she wasn't supposed to eat. I think, I think that's what happened.
00:02:05
Speaker
ah Dog got sick. Ceiling was leaking. I don't know what was going on, but the ceiling just decided to start leaking. I called the roofer. He said it's the plumbing. I called the plumber. He said it's the roof.
00:02:19
Speaker
One of y'all got to, what is it? Fix it. Turns out they were actually both kind of right. It was a roof issue, but there's also a related plumbing issue.
00:02:30
Speaker
I'm fixing one thing at a time. We got the roof together. Okay. okay A lot going on, not to mention dating. I don't even going to need a whole separate. I need a whole separate episode about dating or many episodes because o Rocky, Rocky, just like everything else right now.
00:02:49
Speaker
Life is lifing a little bit in 2026. I'm actually extremely thankful to have my podcast finally up and running. This is like a little escape for me because I like to just sit here and yeah, when I'm off the camera,
00:03:06
Speaker
ah Back to the bullshit. It's a lot going on. and Not to mention what's not my personal life outside in the world, down the street, the lunatic that's randomly starting wars with Iran, where World War III, who this?
00:03:24
Speaker
What are we doing?
Political Views and Party Critique
00:03:25
Speaker
Why are we doing it? What's going on? So politically, we're in shambles. I'm over here grieving Jasmine Crockett losing the Democratic primary in Texas. I have so, so many feelings about this. I'm actually going to create a separate video. So be on the lookout for that. But like,
00:03:45
Speaker
I'm really like hurt that not just that she lost, but that there was so many people saying that she shouldn't have even run. and people like Democrats were actually mad at her for running. And I feel like the way that the party is going is like shutting out black women from the highest possible positions because there's such an emphasis on just like playing it safe and white men are seen as safe so instead of actually trying to evolve and become more progressive we're just going to keep going back to white men no matter how mediocre they are and i'm not saying that crockett's um opponent talarico i'm not saying he's mediocre
00:04:28
Speaker
But if he had been mediocre, it would still be the same because there's such an emphasis on like, we just have to get back to the status quo instead of saying we actually have to push shit forward.
00:04:41
Speaker
And so anyway, I said I was going to make a separate video and now i'm just getting on my high horse again. But that
Self-care and New Hobbies
00:04:46
Speaker
actually really like upset me. And like just the state of politics in this country is like making me very sad and emotional. So yeah.
00:04:52
Speaker
I really am, you know, like I'm really being for real when I say like 2026 is off to like a difficult start for your girl. um But, you know, I'm keeping my head up and just remembering that like I am blessed. Obviously, I have a roof over my head.
00:05:05
Speaker
i have a loving people in my life. Like I have what I need to like survive and be okay And so I'm blessed. And it's just, you know, I really I'm praying that a lot of these difficulties will pass soon.
00:05:21
Speaker
um One thing that this reminds me of, I was talking to somebody last week just about about the same kind of stuff. And she asked me, so Brittany, what are you doing to care for yourself?
00:05:33
Speaker
And I kind of was like, ah oh, wait a second. I think she might have gagged me a little bit because what am I doing? Like myself, I've never been good at self-care. i don't like any of the traditional self-care stuff. I don't like getting my nails done. You see, my I'm like the only woman in the world that rocks naked nails because like the most I can manage to do is nail polish. But and I hate it. I don't even like doing that. But like the actual like getting everything done and designs and stuff would just kill me.
00:06:00
Speaker
So I don't like massages. I don't like bubble baths. Like I don't like candles. I'm very weird. Like I just don't like any of the like typical stuff. So I last year i spent a lot of time trying to figure out more like accessible self-care because the self-care I like is stuff that's not practical on a daily basis. Like, oh, let's take a trip.
00:06:22
Speaker
I can only take so many trips. I love decorating my house. I love home decor. I love like picking things out. But again, there's a limit to that. I don't have just like unlimited funds to spend on furniture and like accessories.
00:06:34
Speaker
um So I've been trying to figure out like what's a self-care thing that I can do that's like easy and like relatively cheap. I kind of got into flowers like I was starting to get into like floral arranging, which I think I want to pick back up. I started playing kickball, which I see as a form of self-care because I'm not trying to win. I'm just trying to be out there and be active and be outside.
00:06:58
Speaker
um i walk my dog. That's self-care for me. So I'm trying to make sure I stay consistent with that. I would love y'all's advice, though, especially if you are like me and you don't necessarily like the traditional, you know, self-care things, like what's something else that you've gotten into that you could recommend for me? Because I definitely need to improve in that area and make sure that I am caring for myself in the midst of everything going on. So would greatly appreciate that advice. Um,
00:07:30
Speaker
And, you know, one thing, obviously, this is not self-care. It's really work. That's part of my problem is that a lot of times when I think about stuff that I like doing, it's still worky, even like the podcast. This is still work. And the other thing that's kind of worky, but I really enjoy it is my game night that I'm hosting at the end of the month, March 27th.
00:07:50
Speaker
um If you're in the DMV area, come check us out.
Media Landscape Concerns
00:07:55
Speaker
at the nod presents on Instagram for more details, or you can go to posh and find all the information there, get your ticket.
00:08:02
Speaker
e Yes, that's work, but I enjoy it. It's fun. I love hosting the game night. I love, you know, bringing people together. That's something that I really, truly enjoy. So I'm still trying to figure out my whole self-care routine and um I need it because Whew, okay.
00:08:24
Speaker
That's it for the catch up. Geneva says we need to be paying more attention to what's going on in media. Now, I know everybody has heard about what's going on with Paramount buying Warner Brothers Discovery.
00:08:42
Speaker
Netflix was going for it first, but Paramount came out with the big, like Joker, put some big money on the table, and now they're getting ready to close that deal.
00:08:53
Speaker
I know that everybody has heard about this, so I'm not going to break down like the X's and O's of like the deal and how it works. You can Google that. You can find that. But I'm really going to talk about what it means for us, like day our day to day lives. What do we need to keep in mind with what's going on in media?
00:09:13
Speaker
First, I want to remind anybody who doesn't know, like I have a long background in media my entire career, my entire life. Like I started working in media when I was still in college. I worked for Georgia Public Broadcasting. I interned with Channel 2, WSB, which is the biggest local station in Atlanta.
00:09:33
Speaker
And graduated. came to DC during um but the summer between my junior and senior year. And I ended up interning for CNN. I was actually going to intern for CBS 60 minutes, which I was like, so excited about.
00:09:50
Speaker
i have literally been watching 60 minutes since I was a kid. Like, This is the type of childhood I had. I was watching 60 Minutes with my parents as a child, loving it, enjoying it.
00:10:01
Speaker
And when I was like six years old, I was like, oh, I'm going to be a news anchor. I did. ever I've done every media thing. I was in like media club in middle school and high school. I have my first job out of college was working for CNN and then I worked for another news network and then I got into communications where my primary role has been media relations. So working with media to get my clients and the organizations and people I work with in the news. So i literally like when I tell you my entire life has had
00:10:34
Speaker
some connection to media, some connection to news, some connection to the media landscape. Like I'm very, very, very well versed on these things.
00:10:45
Speaker
And I'm saying that because I really want you to understand, like from somebody who gets it, that like the media landscape that is unfolding right now is one that we should be very worried about.
00:10:58
Speaker
one that we should be paying a lot of attention to and figuring out what are the alternatives. And I think when people start talking like that, like this entire administration, even 2016, but especially from like,
00:11:14
Speaker
when people start using language about dictatorship and autocracy and fascism, I think sometimes folks kind of disassociate or like tune out because they're like, my regular life still feels normal. You know, like basically, I still get up, go to work, do this, do that. Like nothing necessarily feels like it's drastically different. So we can't possibly be, you know, really under like a unfolding dictatorship. I mean, everything's still normal, but we are under an unfolding dictatorship.
00:11:49
Speaker
And this, I think the media, like changes that are happening are the first like biggest evidence of like how things are really changing because of this man.
00:12:02
Speaker
Like we, this is not the same and it may never be the same. Like I grew up watching CBS 60 minutes with my parents and newsnerd.com. Like I have always loved watching the news and be, and have always been a really big news nerd.
00:12:22
Speaker
I was super excited. I was going to intern for 60 minutes, but it didn't end up working out. And that is a program that I have always like looked up to as like a gold standard of journalism. And now it is not going to really exist anymore. Like journalists who have worked for 60 minutes for like decades are leaving.
00:12:42
Speaker
and David Ellison, who is Trump's bestie, who now owns Paramount, now owns CBS because CBS is under Paramount.
00:12:54
Speaker
And he put his homegirl, Barry Weiss, in charge of CBS News. Her experience includes running a right-wing blog. She's not even a real journalist.
00:13:05
Speaker
And she is running CBS News, which means she's running 60 Minutes, which is why... Probably less than a month after she started, a big story that was really going to be critical of what the administration has been doing with immigration and putting people in detention got nixed.
00:13:27
Speaker
She stepped in and said, that story is not going to run. And she had a bullshit excuse. So we are seeing already, not to say that other critical stories of the mean the administration haven't run, but she's dripping it out slowly. She can't just pull the Band-Aid out overnight.
00:13:44
Speaker
So now we've already seen one big story be like squashed by her directly. We're seeing hella CBS journalists be fired or quit. All the journalists of color, CBS, black people, gone.
00:13:58
Speaker
I mean, gone. So that is a microcosm. That's already happening at CBS. And now when this deal closes, CNN is also going to be under David Ellison's control because Warner Brothers Discovery owns CNN.
00:14:15
Speaker
And now that will be owned by Paramount. So this is all coming together. Like everything is a big web of like conservative media ownership that is being driven by Trump and his billionaire bestie.
00:14:32
Speaker
And that is just news I'm talking about. That's i'm that's just the news part. There are so many other properties that will be caught up in that merger. I'm actually...
00:14:47
Speaker
Let me get out my little list because I don't want to misspeak about all of the different brands that are going to be now owned again by Trump's billionaire bestie, all kinds of entertainment, TLC, HBO, Showtime, TBS, HBO ah Max, BET,
00:15:15
Speaker
v h one all And then also just a lot of like franchises, Harry Potter. TikTok isn't already in the Ellison web.
00:15:25
Speaker
That deal, I believe, has already closed. And people
Impact of Algorithm Changes
00:15:28
Speaker
are already talking about how much TikTok has changed. I actually haven't been on the app that long. But people who have been on it for years are talking about like they can very much see the difference with the algorithm, the videos that are being suggested, the things that they're able to search for, the things that they're able to post.
00:15:48
Speaker
I went to post um a clip not that long ago in which I say I'm still mad at everybody who voted for Trump. I'll never forgive them.
00:15:59
Speaker
The clip that I wanted to post on TikTok included that in it. And when I went to post it, it was dead for like two hours. Like every time, if you use the studio app, every time you post on TikTok, it'll show you, okay, here's when it went live.
00:16:16
Speaker
Here's who can see it. And here's how many views you're getting. And I obviously i ain't no big creator, but usually right off rip, I get a handful of views just like my friends and like I'll get a like or two and I'll start be able start being able to see the view count like go up a little bit.
00:16:34
Speaker
This thing was posted for two hours and the audience kept saying only you. So it kept not going out to like the full audience on TikTok.
00:16:45
Speaker
And then finally, when it did, the views like was like five, like They suppress that video. I truly believe they suppress that video because of what I said. And I don't I don't I'm not good enough yet at like the tick tock isms to like, you know, people make up words and like hide the things that they're really saying. Like, I'll figure out how to do that.
00:17:06
Speaker
But what the fuck? Ellison owned tick tock blocked me from saying I'll never forgive people who voted for Trump, which I won't. And I'll say it again.
00:17:17
Speaker
So we really need to be freaking concerned about this. And those are the big headlines. There's other stuff going on to you guys. So there's so much going on.
00:17:29
Speaker
You may have heard about all of these like prediction markets that are going crazy. Basically, you can bet on anything. And the one of the big companies involved with that is called CallSheet.
00:17:41
Speaker
which is doing a deal with CNN. So I guess you can bet on like news. I don't even know what that will mean, but they're somehow partnered with CNN. And guess who sits on the advisory board for Kalshi?
00:17:56
Speaker
Trump's freaking son. Like this is like a whole big web of like this man and his family and his friends integrating themselves into media properties that we have generally trust trusted and seen as places where we can get good information.
The State of Journalism
00:18:16
Speaker
And that is about to change. I am worried. We should all be worried about how these places that we have always seen as credible, even if we, yeah, okay, there might be a little slant here, a little lean there. But generally speaking, we know that if we tune into CNN, we're not going to get lies. It's not going to be freaking Newsmax, right? Like we're going to be able to go there and get the right information about the stories. And we're going to generally be able to know the big stories of the day and what's going on. And I'm concerned that that's not going to be true anymore.
00:18:50
Speaker
We are really in a situation where some of the biggest names in news are going to be taken over by the besties of the orange man. And we should be really worried about that.
00:19:01
Speaker
And on top of that, newsrooms are shrinking to like half of the size that they used to be. Washington Post, also owned by a billionaire bestie of Trump, Jeff Bezos,
00:19:14
Speaker
freaking cut half their newsroom. There's differing reports, but I've seen from a third to a half of their newsroom, including entire desks. So the entire international desk.
00:19:25
Speaker
So Washington Post right now isn't covering what's happening in Iran. Not as much, or at least not as well as they would have been because they don't have an international desk anymore. And of course, every time something like that happens, Black journalists and journalists of color are the first ones targeted. So, so many Black journalists are losing their jobs.
00:19:43
Speaker
And in general, so many journalists are losing their jobs. That's just at Washington Post. I saw a report that said last year, 17,000 journalism and media jobs were cut. And that's across all types of platforms. That's print and online journalism. That's TV news.
00:20:05
Speaker
All of the places where you can go get information, have a lot less people to give the information to you. And a lot of those places are coming under the ownership of somebody who is invested in giving wrong information.
00:20:23
Speaker
We really, really, really need to take a step back and evaluate our media intake. How are we getting information?
00:20:36
Speaker
And one of the things that we need to do which I know has is just like, it's hard even for me, is that we have to realize that we need to pay for good information.
00:20:48
Speaker
We just have to accept that good journalism and good, accurate information is not going to be available unless we pay for it.
00:20:59
Speaker
We have to come out of our pocket and put it in the budget the same way we budget for Netflix and Hulu and Peacock and Spotify and all of the other streaming apps that we have no problem paying for. We may complain about it, but we do it.
00:21:16
Speaker
Now we need to make sure that we are actually subscribing to credible news sources and to independent journalists, which is going to be the next wave of information that will allow us to be able to fight against government ownership of media, which is the direction that we're going.
00:21:40
Speaker
So this is this is kind of serious, y'all. Like, I'm trying to even sit here and think about how to like crack a joke. I don't have one. Like shit is not funny. This is really, really, really a dire moment.
00:21:55
Speaker
And if we do not take it seriously, we are going to subject ourselves to propaganda, to right-wing BS and to the absolute suppression of information that we need in order to be ah an informed public.
00:22:12
Speaker
Even like, This has already happened and it makes me so sad, but like Twitter used to be the best place to get news. You go on Twitter, you're going to get the latest information. You're going to have all of the news networks and all of the news outlets putting the new information on Twitter first. So that is where you can really go so like keep up with the beats of what's going on.
00:22:34
Speaker
And now... Nothing. Not only have several news outlets left Twitter, but the ones that remain don't necessarily get the visibility because they are being suppressed.
00:22:47
Speaker
So I can go on Twitter and search for something like Iran and nothing comes up but right wing bullshit bot. opinions that have no basis in fact, and I can't find the information anymore, even when I'm going searching for it.
00:23:04
Speaker
Yesterday, Kristi Noem, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, got fired, and I wanted to learn more about that. And I just as a reflex, I went to Twitter, I searched for her name, and nothing came up.
00:23:19
Speaker
And that's Complete bullshit because we know that's a huge story. So i'm I'm trying to retrain myself. Oh, I got to go to Google News or I got to like go to other places to get the information. But I'm so used to just being able to go to Twitter and find the stuff.
00:23:34
Speaker
No, because Trump's other billionaire bestie, Elon Musk, has taken care of the algorithm to make sure that it is more friendly to his interests.
00:23:45
Speaker
And so on that note, as I share with you what I'm currently obsessed with and to present some solutions to the many problems that I've just laid out, I am currently obsessed with all of the black independent journalists who are making a name for themselves and making sure that we can still have reliable news and reliable information.
00:24:08
Speaker
While they are not affiliated with a big news network, they are still practicing journalism in a high integrity way. They have a background in journalism, went to journalism school in many cases, have worked for big networks before they became Ellis and I's and are bringing that credibility to their independent platforms. So I really want to make sure that we are supporting these independent journalists.
00:24:37
Speaker
And we have to come out of our pocket to do it. Like, I'm going to put my money where my mouth is. I will be... paying to for access to these platforms, I encourage you to do the same.
00:24:50
Speaker
a lot of really great sub stacks that I am following include, of course, are Twitter newsman and my new bestie, honestly. I mean, we've actually spent we've actually hung out a few times, Phil Lewis. I'm like, oh my God, I can't believe like I know him. like He would recognize me at the streets. ah But Phil Lewis has a great sub stack that you can subscribe to um Michael Harriet, who used to be at The Root, he has a wonderful substack.
00:25:18
Speaker
Charles Blow, who is just one of my absolute favorite columnists, he has a great substack. As I'm saying these, I'll put these on the screen. I'll put them in the description so you can find them.
00:25:30
Speaker
Then we have a lot of TV news journalists who were fired. from their various platforms who have started their own things on YouTube, such as Joy Reid, Don Lemon, as you all well know, I'm sure you know about everything that Don Lemon's doing.
00:25:44
Speaker
Roland Martin, who's actually kind of like the grandfather of this whole thing, because he was really the first person to like go all in, the first person to like successfully go all in on like building his own platform.
00:25:57
Speaker
Roland Martin unfiltered, which is doing like extremely well to my understanding and has really built like a huge following. And I think that he's doing some solid stuff. And so those are things that you can find on YouTube. You don't have to pay for access, but you, you know, could consider donating because they, they still are going to need, you know, all types of resources to be able to continue.
00:26:22
Speaker
Um, so that, you know, those are the ones that I'm just like, most recently interested in or most recently following. There's so many others. I'll give a shout to a non-Black journalist who I really like. His name is Jacob Ward. He is doing a lot of great things on his sub stack focused on ai the impact of AI and technology, and he's very trustworthy. He was at NBC and he was also at AJM, which we worked together when I was there. So he's another journalist independent journalist that I highly recommend. So I'm currently obsessed with independent media, people who are doing it on their own, not letting the absence of a traditional newsroom stop them.
00:27:06
Speaker
And quite frankly, traditional newsrooms are about to be the platforms that get the side eyee because they are not going to be run by credible leaders who we know are actually upholding the ethics and integrity of journalism. so These independent journalists are going to be the future of making sure that the practice of journalism is actually being upheld and respected.
00:27:31
Speaker
That has been the latest episode of Geneva Says. Thank you all so much for watching, listening, tapping in with me, giving me your feedback. I appreciate it so much, more than you could possibly know.
00:27:43
Speaker
um i hope you learned something. I hope this was helpful. Please do share your feedback, share
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:27:50
Speaker
your comments. I'd love to see it Follow me online. I'm on all the platforms, Brittany, Geneva, including Threads. I got on Threads because I am trying to back away from Twitter. So I'm, i'm even though, I mean, ah like, Margaret Zuckerberg is so much better than Elon Musk. All of these places are owned by billionaires who actually hate us.
00:28:10
Speaker
huh So there's not a lot of options, but at least I'm trying to get away from, like, the worst of the worst. So I'm on Threads. at Brittany Geneva on all of the things. Definitely please subscribe to my YouTube. Watch me there.
00:28:27
Speaker
Also find me on Apple podcasts and other podcast platforms. Listen to me there. If that's what you prefer, whatever you choose to do, however you choose to tap in, i appreciate it. And I will be back soon for another episode.
00:28:41
Speaker
Thank you.